A new fight shop boasting community just as much as its premium fight gear just opened in Long Island City last month.
Sway Fight Shop, located at 49-16 11th St., officially opened on Sept. 14, with a grand opening event welcoming friends, family, and the fight community to explore the expansive space, which specializes in small-batch handmade gear from Thailand. The store, owned by a group of veteran fighters and lifelong martial artists, sought to fill a need in the community, not only by providing gear but also by offering a place to connect and meet with others.
“We saw an opportunity to give people a place and noticed there was a gap to allow people to actually come and feel what worked best for them,” said Mariam Ezz, the store’s CEO and co-owner. “It’s a very personal thing to find out what kind of gloves to use-but the second part, which I think was more important, was creating our own brand, so although we do carry third-party brands, we really want to create our own brand and vision of what a combat sports brand could look like, so that’s how we came up with Sway.”
“Sway,” which in Thai means ‘beautiful’, is owned by Ezz, along with Kit Yeung, Sean Hinds, and Daniel DeRiso. Hinds, a professional Muay Thai fighter, has fought all over the world and earned accolades throughout his career, including the WKA Super Middleweight Champion title, Three-time WBL Super Middleweight Champion, and FNF Middleweight Champion. He owns Hinds Combat Sports in LIC and Midtown with Yeung, who also owns other martial arts gyms in Queens, including in Rego Park, Elmhurst, and Forest Hills.
“We’re all Queens-based, and it felt very important to us that the store would be in Queens because we’ve seen a big influx of gyms and people interested in not just Muay Thai, but other combat sports,” said Ezz. “We think Queens is the best, honestly, as far as boroughs go, and so we felt very strongly about having the store in Queens, with a Queens identity.”
Ezz and Yeung, who also have amateur records from competing and training in Muay Thai, along with DeRiso, who regularly trains, utilized all of their extensive fighting experience among the four owners to develop gloves, shin guards, and apparel. They even traveled to Thailand and met with various manufacturers to create a brand that was exactly what they were looking for in terms of fight gear.
“We really wanted to prioritize authenticity and quality, so we actually went to Thailand and met with different manufacturers, got samples, and in partnership with our creative director, Sara Orofino, we were able to design some really cool gloves and get them manufactured in Thailand,” said Ezz. “Obviously, now, with the tariffs, things are a little rough, but we’re not deterred and we really want to stick on this path of making our stuff in Thailand and giving back in a way, to the place that gave us all careers and just joy of the sport.”
While the venue also carries brand names like Venum and Fairtex, they also support independent-owned brands, such as Vai Jiu Jitsu, Always Muay Thai, and Southpaw Stitches, which was founded by fellow Queens resident and professional Muay Thai fighter, Jess Ng. The shop has a range of prices for different budgets, including their own gloves, which have options ranging from genuine leather for $100 to premium microfiber for $85. The shop offers gear for kids to adults, including items such as hand wraps, athletic tape, and more.
Amongst the space are photos of their gear worn by friends, fellow fighters, and students from their gym, as well as artwork and a mural done by Dominyka Obelenyte, a friend of the group who is also a 10-time world champion in Jiu-Jitsu, who first won a world championship around the age of 13. With chairs scattered around the space and a cozy atmosphere, as the store’s hours expand, they hope for people to come and not only shop, but also meet and connect with others.
“People have actually been coming to hang out,” said Ezz. “Right now we’re transitioning into our full-time hours, and we put a TV in so we can play fights, we have a bulletin board up with community events that are happening, and this kind of thing really can’t happen without the community, and it’s quite crucial to the existence of our business, that the community can thrive and exist here.”
Sway Fight Shop is presently open on Friday, noon-7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. To stay up to date as their hours expand, as well as event announcements, follow them at @swayfight
